There is no leadership on the team. Who is gonna be the one to get them through the tough times? When I look at their roster, I see a bunch of talented guys who are basically nothing more than stat padders and career losers. What does Zach Randolph bring to the table other than competition for Eddy Curry to see who can get to the buffet table the fastest? He's just a numbers guy with a history of having a poor attitude. Also, Isiah Thomas has been a consistent underachiever. They will not make the playoffs until they change their philosophy as an organization. They need to build a TEAM, not just throw together a collection of quasi-All Stars.......

There is no leadership on the team. Who is gonna be the one to get them through the tough times? When I look at their roster, I see a bunch of talented guys who are basically nothing more than stat padders and career losers. What does Zach Randolph bring to the table other than competition for Eddy Curry to see who can get to the buffet table the fastest? He's just a numbers guy with a history of having a poor attitude. Also, Isiah Thomas has been a consistent underachiever. They will not make the playoffs until they change their philosophy as an organization. They need to build a TEAM, not just throw together a collection of quasi-All Stars.......

David Lee and Q-rich are the leaders. Randolph and Curry will get their shares. Randolph is a changed man. I do believe we need to change our organization entirely, but we are just an offensive monster, in the East we have the best frontcourt, with strong perimeter players who can break down the defense easily.

The Knick probably will not make the playoffs, but have about a 25% chance I would guess.

The Knicks do have one big advantage thanks to their inflated payroll that many other teams don't... the ability to overcome injuries. Since there is not 1 main piece to the puzzle, NY can withstand injuries, much like they did last year. Last year they lost Marbury, Crawford, Francis, Nate Rob, Collins, Lee, QRich, and Jeffries for significant stretches. They managed to tread water, but had all those players been healthy, it probably would not have given them many more wins, since the Knicks have one of the deepest teams.

Meanwhile NJ could lose Kidd and they would be done, Boston - KG or PP, Cleveland - James, Washington - Arenas, Orlando - Howard, etc. etc. All those teams would be devasted by injuries to 1 or 2 key players. The Knicks don't really have to worry about that as much, since they have such depth and mediocrity across the squad. It's hard to say who is the most important player on the team. Meanwhile, Randolph and Curry are such redundant players that losing one may actually help the team.

Meanwhile I do think that:

Chicago
Detroit
Cleveland
Boston
New Jersey

are all locks.

The remaining spots should be fought for by Toronto, Miami and Washington as the frontrunners. NY will be one of the 9 or 10 seeds that hopes one of the other teams faces injury or underacheives.

Wrong, Crawford can be an all-star player if he was in the right system, like the Suns. And David Lee would average 20 and 11 if he started for us.

That's true, but we have too much offensive power, how will teams stop us?

Crawford would kill the Suns. He has a carrer average of 40% from the field and 34% on 3's. With a team that relies on good shooting (Nash, Stoudamire, Diaw, Marion all shoot over 50%) he'd be the worst player for them.

Crawford would kill the Suns. He has a carrer average of 40% from the field and 34% on 3's. With a team that relies on good shooting (Nash, Stoudamire, Diaw, Marion all shoot over 50%) he'd be the worst player for them.

If I were a Knicks fan, I would want Lee out on the court as much as possible. The Randolph trade makes this more difficult, but is there any chance Lee plays the 3 alongside Curry and Randolph? I haven't seen Lee enough to be sure if his footwork/mobility are good enough to play extended minutes against the Lebrons/Melos/McGradys of the league.

Only teams I view as playoff locks: Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, New Jersey, and Chicago.

The remaining three spots will be a fight between: New York, Toronto, Washington, Miami, Atlanta, Orlando, and Charlotte.

The Knicks aren't a lock but they have a good shot at getting in.

I got DET, CHI, BOS, NEW JERSEY, MIA AND WASHINGTON as Locks not in that order

AND Cleveland (whom I expect to struggle cuz some many east teams improved), Atl, New York, Orlando, Tor & Char on the bubble

I don't expect Clev to be that good next yr
after watchin the finals
Im confident teams are gonna lock in on Lebron and dare his teammates to step up.

New York will be better but because so many other teams improved too
it might not be enough.
They might slide in at the 8 spot don't know though
jus hope Stephon doesn't say anything stupid.....again
and Zack stays outta the clubs